Thoughts and Theories about Harry Potter

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Albus Severus Potter

I talk a lot about name meanings in Harry Potter, but I don’t usually focus much on the next generation kids, because most of their names are so obvious – particularly Harry’s children. However, it occurred to me earlier today that Albus Severus Potter, as portrayed in Cursed Child, actually has a lot in common with both of his namesakes.

Like Severus Snape, he …

Is a Slytherin

Has a childhood friendship with a girl named after a flower, which ends during their time at Hogwarts, at least partially because she does not approve of the people he chooses to be friends with

Is easily misled by someone with a connection to Voldemort

Plays a role in the fulfillment of a prophecy relating to Voldemort

Is a somewhat morally ambiguous character who ultimately chooses the side of good

Like Albus Dumbledore, he …

Is a misfit in his own family and does not always get along with them

Has a brother and sister who are closer to each other than to him

Makes friends with an unpopular classmate

Trusts a charming stranger with plans for world domination and gets sucked into their scheme, but later helps to stop them

Distrusts the Ministry of Magic, working behind their back even though they have the same goals

Wants to be seen as his own person, not his father’s son (for very different reasons)

Is highly ambitious, but craves recognition and respect rather than power

However, unlike Snape, he never truly gets involved with the Dark Side and is only tricked into helping with someone else’s evil scheme. He also never stops being a good person and is not cruel to others in the way that Snape was. He is able to reconcile with his family, whereas Dumbledore’s parents and sister died young and his brother never fully forgave him. He has a lot in common with them, but his story has a happier ending.

By the end of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, both Albus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy have lost the wands that originally chose them when they were eleven. While this might seem to be just an obstacle for them to overcome, given the intensely personal nature of wands, I think it may be a representation of how much both of them change over the course of the play. Regardless, I can hardly pass up the opportunity to theorize about a character’s wands, so I’m doing Albus this week, Scorpius next week, and possibly Rose the week after.

I really like the idea of a pine wand for Albus:

The straight-grained pine wand always chooses an independent, individual master who may be perceived as a loner, intriguing and perhaps mysterious. Pine wands enjoy being used creatively, and unlike some others, will adapt unprotestingly to new methods and spells. Many wandmakers insist that pine wands are able to detect, and perform best for, owners who are destined for long lives, and I can confirm this in as much as I have never personally known the master of a pine wand to die young. The pine wand is one of those that is most sensitive to non-verbal magic.

Albus is certainly independent, often insisting that he and Scorpius take matters into their own hands, and a loner in that he is a misfit among his family and only has one close friend. He is also quite creative with his magic; for instance, at one point he decides that stupefy has been used to destroy time turners before and they should “do something new”. As for long life, it’s hard to predict that when he’s only fourteen, but he did survive an adventure as dangerous as some of Harry’s.

I also considered hawthorn, which “seems most at home with a conflicted nature, or with a witch or wizard passing through a period of turmoil”, but Albus’ period of turmoil seems to be nearing its end as the play winds down. I like the idea that he might have used a hawthorn wand during his first few years at Hogwarts, but switched to something more stable and confident after Cursed Child.

For the core, I would guess phoenix feather. Deep down, I think Albus and Harry have a lot in common, and phoenix wands – which are sometimes known to act of their own accord and contain the independence and detachment of the birds they come from – seem like as good a fit for Albus as for his father.

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Cursed Child a few hours ago, and I loved it! No, it’s not quite as good as having a real 8th book, and it has a few flaws, but it captures the spirit of the Harry Potter books and feels like a true continuation.

The adult characters are spot-on: Harry is as wonderfully flawed as ever, and Ron and Hermione are true to who they’ve always been. Draco Malfoy is still an obnoxious brat but obviously cares very much about his son. Best of all is Ginny, who always seemed a bit two-dimensional in the movies but really comes to life in the play. She’s every bit as fierce, loving, and spirited as she was in the books, and often comes across as being the sanest one in the room.

The kids are a delight. I would have loved to see more of Rose Granger-Weasley, who is more of a supporting character, but I adored Albus and Scorpius. Albus Potter is impulsive and quick to anger, but basically just feels different from his family and wants to know that he is loved, no matter what. Scorpius Malfoy is a total nerd – which I mean in the best way possible – as well as having a very kind heart and wanting nothing to do with the dark arts. Are we sure he’s really a Malfoy? Yes, probably, but to say any more would be a spoiler. Their friendship is as strong as the original trio’s, and the fact that they are both outcasts just makes it more important.

Then there’s Delphi, who is pretty much a walking spoiler, so all I’m going to say about her is that you’ll probably have a strong reaction to her, be it positive or negative. I think the twist is very in line with some of Rowling’s previous ones, and was foreshadowed well without being blatantly obvious, but it’s a big one and might be difficult for some people to accept.

As I said, the story has its flaws. The biggest is the fact that it’s a play script, and unless it’s filmed, the vast majority of Harry Potter fans will never get to see it performed. Aside from that, there’s one particular detail – which I can’t share without giving away several major spoilers – that I just can’t see happening, ever, and goes pretty strongly against the way a character was portrayed in the original series. Another thing that got under my skin a bit was how common it’s become to say Voldemort’s name. No matter how much things have changed in nineteen years, I would have expected an elderly man like Amos Diggory to still go with “you-know-who”. In another bit that I can’t talk about without spoilers, the use of Voldemort’s name becomes especially out of place.

Yes, there are small pieces that don’t quite fit right. I think this is largely a product of the fact that Cursed Child was a collaboration. While Rowling was heavily involved in creating the story, it was Jack Thorne who wrote the script, and he would likely have been the one to decide small details like the ones I mentioned. He didn’t do a bad job, but no one knows Harry Potter inside and out like J.K. Rowling.

But I want to stress the fact that, overall, I enjoyed it. The characters are believable and easy to relate to. The story deals with parent/child relationships, friendship, loneliness, and the ways that the past affects the present, all things that feel like natural continuations of the original series. The plot itself is enjoyable, although I can’t say too much about it without spoilers, and the story has a good mix of humor and more serious moments. It’s not quite as good as the original seven books, but it’s a fun addition that really does take the reader back to the world of Hogwarts.